Mum and son deny 'homophobic' abuse

The 28-year-old said they were subjected to the tirades while they were making their way to Morrison's.

Speaking of the July 31, 2012 incident in the town's Collier Street, she said: "They were saying stuff like, 'She's a dyke.'

"There were loads of words like that, there were loads of different people saying it."

She said her teenage son was also targeted in the melee, being branded "a beast."

But she defiantly told Paisley Sheriff Court last week: "They were saying that as if it's wrong to be gay - we're not beasts because we're gay.

The mum was giving evidence at the trial of 40-year-old Gael Bowie and her son John, 22.

They deny assaulting the woman's partner by grabbing her by the neck, struggling violently with her, causing her to fall to the ground, repeatedly punching and kicking her on the head and body and hitting her over the head with a crutch.

Gael, of Greenend Avenue, has also pleaded not guilty to acting in a threatening or abusive manner which was likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm by hurling homophobic abuse at the two women.

Prosecutors claim that the older Bowie's alleged comments were aggravated by prejudice.

Gael has entered a special defence of self-defence, while John has entered a special defence of alibi.

During the trial, the mother said a teenage girl - who is known to Gael Bowie and can't be named for legal reasons - had been verbally abusing her about her sexuality for some time.

She claimed the teen spread the fact she was a lesbian "around the whole school" and told Sheriff Derek Livingstone: I"'d had enough."

The court heard that the woman and her partner passed the teenage girl and a group of her friends as they were walking towards Morrison's.

She said the girl made a comment to her and she went to confront her.

She said: "I'd had enough of her abuse.

"I was peed off and sick of being abused by a teenage girl. I just said to her, I've had enough, Gael needs to come down so we can speak about this."

She said that Gael Bowie then appeared a short time later, "hanging out the side of her motor, shouting and bawling."

The witness continued: "The car skidded into the street."

She said a fight broke out between Gael and her partner, with Gael swinging her partner round and grabbing her by the throat.

The teenager is then said to have hit the woman over the head with a crutch, before Gael Bowie rained punches on her alleged victim' head.

The witness said that both Bowies and the teenage girl then started "booting into her partner," leaving her with "clumps everywhere."

The trial was adjourned and the accused are next due in the dock in April.